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Zach Whitecloud

Pacific Notes: Whitecloud, Karlsson, Canucks, Flames

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The Vegas Golden Knights are grappling with uncertainty surrounding the availability of defenseman Zach Whitecloud for their opening night banner-raising against the Seattle Kraken next Tuesday. Head coach Bruce Cassidy, during a press conference Wednesday, expressed hesitance to confirm Whitecloud’s participation in the season opener.

Cassidy said that until Zach is on the ice, he can’t say he expects him to play. Whitecloud, a key depth piece for the Golden Knights, has been dealing with an undisclosed issue that has kept him off the ice during preseason activities for around a week. The 26-year-old missed significant time last season with injury, playing 59 out of 82 games and recording 12 points and a +10 rating. When healthy, he’s expected to resume his usual role on the team’s third pairing behind Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore on the team’s right side.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division today:

  • Sticking with Vegas, they’re also dealing with a day-to-day injury to center William Karlsson that is not expected to stretch into the regular season. Cassidy said he’s been dealing with an undisclosed issue throughout training camp to date and that he will not play in tomorrow’s preseason contest against the Colorado Avalanche. Karlsson played a crucial role in the Knights’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup, recording 11 goals and 17 points in 22 games. His 53 points last season were his highest since 2018-19, his sophomore campaign with Vegas, after potting 43 goals in the 2017-18 season.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are bringing in some reinforcements, recalling multiple players from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks today. Goaltender Arturs Silovs, defenseman Filip Johansson, and forwards Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Aatu Räty, and Max Sasson will be available to the team for tonight’s preseason contest against the Seattle Kraken. All will likely get returned to the minors tomorrow after being cut from Canucks camp earlier this week.
  • Sportsnet’s Eric Francis believes a “significant announcement” regarding a new arena for the Calgary Flames could come tomorrow. Plans for a new home to replace the aging Scotiabank Saddledome are already well underway, with their ownership group and the Alberta government reaching a preliminary agreement for a new arena after the end of last season. The provincial government also greenlit the first C$39MM dedicated to the project last month.

Golden Knights Rule Out Zach Whitecloud For Rest Of Preseason

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Earlier this week, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy stated that he was hopeful that Zach Whitecloud’s upper-body injury wouldn’t be a long-term concern.  However, it won’t be a short-term one either as Cassidy told reporters today including Jesse Granger of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the blueliner has been ruled out for the rest of the preseason with an update on his status to come once the exhibition campaign has come to an end.

The 26-year-old has been one of the more successful undrafted college free agent signings over the past few years.  Whitecloud has become a reliable third-pairing blueliner for Vegas, earning himself a six-year, $16.5MM contract back in 2021.

Last season, he suited up in 59 games, picking up a dozen points while recording 97 blocks and 90 hits in a little over 17 minutes a night.  He followed that up with a good showing in the playoffs, playing in all 22 games, recording two goals and six assists while seeing his ATOI jump slightly to 18:42 per contest.

Fortunately for Vegas, they do have several candidates that could legitimately push for Whitecloud’s opening should he miss any regular season.  Kaedan Korczak, Brayden Pachal, and Dysin Mayo all have seen NHL action already while prospect Lukas Cormier should also be in the mix so if Whitecloud isn’t ready to start the year, they shouldn’t have to look outside the organization for a short-term replacement.

Zach Whitecloud Out Month-To-Month

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The Vegas Golden Knights had last season completely derailed by key injuries, and the only thing keeping it from happening again is the big lead they built up at the beginning of the year. The club issued updates on three key players today, indicating that Jack Eichel is day-to-day, Shea Theodore is week-to-week, and Zach Whitecloud is out on a month-to-month basis. The latter has been moved to long-term injured reserve, joining Shea Weber, Robin Lehner, Brett Howden, and Nolan Patrick with that designation.

One of the things that made Vegas so dangerous early on was their defensive depth, with some calling the duo of Whitecloud and Nicolas Hague the best third pairing in the league. Now, that depth will be seriously tested, given the injuries and absence of Alex Pietrangelo for personal reasons.

In Sunday’s game against the Boston Bruins, Ben Hutton ended up playing more than 20 minutes due to Whitecloud’s early departure, something that the team probably doesn’t want to see every night. Young Kaedan Korczak and Brayden Pachal were recalled yesterday to give the group some additional help on the back end, though asking either of them to fill Whitecloud’s shoes will be difficult.

The 26-year-old Whitecloud has turned into a very reliable member of the Golden Knights blue line, recording six points in 30 games during the first season of a six-year extension signed last fall. He was supposed to be the player they could lean on in the absence of Pietrangelo and Theodore but now it looks like a huge chunk of his year will be spent rehabbing. Vegas can ill afford more injuries on the back end, while they try to hold off the surging Seattle Kraken in the Pacific Division.

Hockey Canada Announces 2022 IIHF World Championship Roster

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The roster is set, with just a few days to go before things kick off for Hockey Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Championship. The defending gold medalists will be icing a rather youthful roster this season, highlighted by some of the league’s up-and-coming stars, along with some established top-end youngsters.

The full roster will be:

G Chris Driedger
G Logan Thompson
G Matt Tomkins

D Thomas Chabot
D Ryan Graves
D Nick Holden
D Dysin Mayo
D Travis Sanheim
D Damon Severson
D Zach Whitecloud

F Josh Anderson
F Mathew Barzal
F Drake Batherson
F Max Comtois
F Dylan Cozens
F Pierre-Luc Dubois
F Morgan Geekie
F Noah Gregor
F Kent Johnson
F Adam Lowry
F Dawson Mercer
F Eric O’Dell
F Nicolas Roy
F Cole Sillinger

For a player like Mayo, this selection truly solidifies the hard work he has put in over years of grinding in the minor leagues. The fifth-round pick spent parts of seven seasons in the AHL before arriving this year with the Arizona Coyotes and becoming one of the team’s most reliable options. Now 25, he’ll be suiting up for his country for the first time at a major international tournament.

Meanwhile, someone like Cozens is taking the next step in representing his country, after last captaining Team Canada at the 2021 World Juniors (where he scored an incredible 16 points in seven games). The Buffalo Sabres forward had 38 points in his first full-length NHL season and has huge upside as a potential franchise cornerstone. The same could be said for players like Johnson and Sillinger, two names that will likely drive the offense for years to come in Columbus.

Perhaps the most interesting name in the group is Dubois, given the Winnipeg Jets center doesn’t have a contract for next season. Pending restricted free agents, especially ones as important as Dubois, usually skip the tournament because of insurance issues and the risk of injury. Instead, he’ll head overseas to play in a tournament he’s already attended twice previously, despite still just being 23 years old.

Several Players Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they have placed forward Michael Amadio, defenseman Zach Whitecloud, and assistant coach Ryan McGill in COVID protocol ahead of tonight’s game at the Minnesota Wild. In what would appear to be a related move, the team has also called up forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Zack Hayes and Daniil Miromanov (link). While the team only placed two players in COVID protocol, the earlier trade of Evgenii Dadonov frees up some additional salary cap space to allow them to call two players up.

In losing Amadio and Whitecloud, Vegas loses two NHL regulars who help Vegas to roll out a complete lineup each night. However, it could certainly open up an opportunity for several young players to shine. Regardless, in these situations, the health of the player always comes first.

Unrelated to Vegas’ COVID protocol players is Buffalo Sabres’ forward John Hayden, who was placed in COVID protocol earlier today (link). While the Sabres don’t play tonight, COVID protocol affects all elements of a player’s involvement with the team, so an announcement of Hayden’s unavailability on an off day makes sense.

Pacific Notes: Gaudreau, Archibald, Golden Knights

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Earlier this week, Flames assistant GM Craig Conroy expressed confidence that the team would be able to re-sign pending UFA winger Johnny Gaudreau in an interview on Sportsnet 960 (audio link), going as far as saying “Oh, that’s a done deal. We’re going to get that done”.   However, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli notes that there haven’t been any substantive conversations of late between the two sides, suggesting a new contract isn’t as close as Conroy’s comments might infer.  Gaudreau is on pace for a career year offensively with 20 goals and 44 assists in 50 games which has him well-positioned to land a sizable raise on his current $6.75MM AAV as he will be one of the top players to hit the UFA market if he remains unsigned into mid-July.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Oilers winger Josh Archibald has been given a clean bill of health from doctors after his bout with myocarditis, reports Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. However, it’s still believed that his COVID vaccination status would limit his usefulness to Edmonton as he’d basically be restricted to Canadian-based games only.  Accordingly, the pending UFA – who carries a $1.5MM cap hit – may be more useful on a team based out of the United States although his trade value would certainly be limited.  Archibald is currently quarantining and will need some time to get into playing condition so he can remain on LTIR for the time being.
  • The Golden Knights have activated defenseman Zach Whitecloud from injured reserve, notes Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 25-year-old had missed the last six games due to a broken foot and has become an important part of their back end, logging more than 19 minutes a game.  While Whitecloud returns, Vegas has also transferred goaltender Robin Lehner and forward Nolan Patrick to injured reserve.

Nic Hague Activated By Vegas Golden Knights

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The Vegas Golden Knights removed defenseman Nicolas Hague from the injured reserve list today, and he’ll likely be back in the lineup when Vegas plays tonight on the road in Edmonton. To make room on the active roster, the team moved Zach Whitecloud, who’s out with a broken foot, to injured reserve in his place.

Hague’s been injured on and off this season, but this past injury kept him out since the team’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 29th. The team never disclosed the nature of Hague’s most recent injury.

With Whitecloud, Alec Martinez, and Dylan Coghlan out of the Vegas lineup, Hague’s return is a giant boost for the team’s depth on defense. The 23-year-old defenseman, a member of Vegas’ inaugural 2017 NHL Draft class, is a skilled play-driver who can play on any pairing.

Hague has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points through 36 games this season.

Injury Updates: Whitecloud, Dvorak, Batherson, Rask

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The Golden Knights suffered a blow to their back end as head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Owen Krepps of Vegas Hockey Now that blueliner Zach Whitecloud has a broken bone in his foot and has been ruled out of their games this week at a minimum.  The 25-year-old has quickly become an important part of the defense corps for Vegas as he is logging over 19 minutes a game while chipping in with a dozen points in 31 games.  It’s the third time this season that Whitecloud has been injured after missing time with a wrist injury and back spasms.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that center Christian Dvorak has been cleared to return from his upper-body injury and is expected to play on Tuesday against New Jersey. He sustained the injury against Minnesota two weeks ago and was placed on IR soon after.  Montreal has two open roster spots at the moment but they also have wingers Cole Caufield and Joel Armia coming back from COVID protocol so they will need to make some sort of roster move in order to add Dvorak to the active roster.
  • Senators winger Drake Batherson is targeting a return of either late March or early April from his ankle injury, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Batherson was injured on a hit from Buffalo goaltender Aaron Dell late last month.  While normally, a return in early April would only bring a player back for a couple of games, the late finish to the regular season would still allow the 23-year-old to get into the final 15-20 games even with Ottawa extremely unlikely to make the playoffs.
  • Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask won’t practice this week as he continues to battle a lingering lower-body injury, relays Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link). The veteran has played in four games since signing with Boston last month but has posted a save percentage of just .844.  There is no timetable for his return but it stands to reason that after not skating for at least two weeks once this week is finished, he’ll need some time to get back into game shape.

Injury Notes: Hayes, Golden Knights, Carrier

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Center Kevin Hayes didn’t take warmups and isn’t playing for the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as originally reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. Head coach Alain Vigneault originally expected Hayes to play and he nor the team have yet to offer an update on Hayes’ absence. Max Willman was recalled from Lehigh Valley today under emergency conditions and is in the lineup for that game. Hayes has two points in two games this season after missing the team’s first 12 games while recovering from offseason core muscle surgery.

More injury notes from around the NHL:

  • The injury parade continues for the Vegas Golden Knights, as The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports defenseman Shea Theodore is unlikely to suit up for Thursday’s contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Theodore fell awkwardly during the Knights’ last game Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, a 4-2 loss. The team hasn’t moved Theodore to injured reserve, but he joins Alec Martinez on the list of Golden Knights defensemen absent from the lineup. However, Granger notes that Zach Whitecloud is “progressing quickly” and could potentially suit up for the Detroit game.
  • Per Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes, defenseman Alexandre Carrier could return to the team’s lineup Saturday versus the Montreal Canadiens. Carrier isn’t on injured reserve, but he’s been out of the lineup for the past week with an undisclosed injury. In 13 games this season, the 25-year-old has five points while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game.

Zach Whitecloud Signs Six-Year Extension

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The Vegas Golden Knights have seen enough from Zach Whitecloud to know they want him to stick around. The team has announced a six-year extension for the young defenseman that will keep him under contract through the 2027-28 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of $2.75MM. PuckPedia tweets the full breakdown:

  • 2022-23: $1.0MM salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
  • 2023-24: $3.0MM salary
  • 2024-25: $2.75MM salary
  • 2025-26: $2.75MM salary
  • 2026-27: $2.5MM salary
  • 2027-28: $2.5MM salary

He may not be the name that draws the most attention on the Golden Knights roster, but Whitecloud is one of the organization’s biggest success stories. Overlooked for basically his entire career, Whitecloud didn’t play alongside other top prospects in the WHL, suiting up in the Manitoba Junior Hockey league instead where he was even cut multiple times. He wasn’t drafted by any NHL team–or even really considered–and was recruited by just one college program, Bemidji State University.

It’s with the BSU Beavers that he started to gain notoriety, and in 2018 after his sophomore season, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights. He stepped directly into pro hockey and was a dominant performer for the Chicago Wolves, putting up the AHL’s best plus-minus in 2018-19 and then led all defensemen in playoff scoring. The following year he got a taste with the Golden Knights and then played in 20 postseason games with the team. In March 2020, he signed a two-year deal that still paid him just the league minimum.

Now a full-time roster player (when healthy), Whitecloud has rewarded that early faith the Golden Knights showed in him by signing away a good chunk of his career. Six-year contracts don’t often come about for players with just 72 regular season NHL games under their belt, but given his postseason performances and steady development, Vegas obviously believes he can be a long-term piece for them.

Given he’ll turn 25 in November, a six-year deal is buying out four years of unrestricted free agency. It also completely avoids salary arbitration and keeps him in the mix at a reasonable cap number through his prime years. Whitecloud will be in his thirties by the time he hits unrestricted free agency, something that seems a long way off right now.

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